I'll never fall in love again
by Sunny Ice
Summary: "What is love, Casey?"-"Love is nothing more than chemistry in the brain. Actually love and drugs have the same effect on the mind." So why is she addicted to the one who teaches his little brother never to leave one girl unkissed?
1. What is love?

This just came to my mind, when I worked on our new project (being an actress also means singing sometimes). And because I like LwD so much, I wrote this little drabble for you.

_italics: _Lyrics of the song "I'll never fall in love again"  
Takes place in season one.

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Life with Derek" or any related films. I neither own the song "I'll never fall in love again"  
Claimer: The way the characters are composed (aka "the storyline") is my intellectual property.**

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"_What do you get, when you fall in love, _Ms MacDonald?"

"Love is nothing more than chemistry in the brain. Some hormones give you the feeling that you can't breathe, eat or sleep without the person you saw in a moment, where your heart raced at a way too fast pace. You think, you're invincible and then you need more of that person. You get kind of addicted. But at some point you have to stop loving this person, because it gets unhealthy for you. Finally you suffer, again unable to breathe, eat or sleep without the person you lifted on a pedestal. In fact- love and drugs have the same effect on the mind."

Somewhere in the classroom someone cough "Frustrated keener". Casey ignored it and looked back on the pages of her book. Of course, she took this "drug" herself and now she was at the stage of suffering. Being the person she was, this meant snapping at everyone who dares to come near her for more than just passing by.

Even her best friend Emily. "Hey Casey! I haven't seen Derek-"

"Derek here, Derek there. Wake up and smell the womanizer! He is not the one you want, he can't give you a house and children! He is _a guy with a pin to burst your bubble_ of dreams! He'll ruin everything!" She slammed her books in the locker and its door behind them. Then she stomped away to her literature-class.  
Emily watched her friend, furrowed her brows and murmured perplexed: "I just wanted to ask if he's okay, not for a permission to marry him…" Sighing, she followed Casey.

At lunchtime Casey has cooled down. Her head laid on the table before her. She was desperate.

"I moved in with them, I fought for having my own room. And all my mother said was "You'll get used to it" and she bought me earplugs to keep the boys out." She sounded, as if she was going to cry any time soon.  
"_That's what you get for all your trouble_? I really thought your mum would at least buy you something more than earplugs." She shoved some salad into her mouth.  
"Why do you even admire Derek so much? I mean, I told you, how he is-"

"Good looking, popular, sporty- a living cliché, I know. Still, if I can't have him, _I'll never fall in love again _with any other guy."

Casey rolled her eyes. Why was Emily soo difficult?  
And why were her words haunting Casey the rest of the day at school? _"I'll never fall in love again…"_

u-_-u

"Edwin, tell me-_What do you get when you kiss a girl?"_

"I don't know Derek, I never came to kiss Molly or Tonja, remember?"

"And we'll change that. A Venturi never meets a girl without kissing her, understand?"

"Guess so…but how to do?" Edwin sat at the dining table, listening to Derek's lesson in how-to-treat-a-girl-when-you're-a-Venturi. He admired his big brother, but sometimes it was just too much. Maybe a good fight with Casey distracted Derek. Luckily she walked through the door at this very moment.  
"Easy." Edwin was pushed down into his seat as he tried to get up and away. "You spin her around, just like this…" He grabbed Casey by the waist and spun her towards him. Of course, she struggled to get free from his grip.  
"…look her deep in the eyes…", he did with a smirk bigger than his ego, as Casey thought.

"…and then you kiss her." Derek leaned in and saw the shock in her eyes. Priceless.

"Of course, you have to kiss only the good ones. Never kiss a girl not worth it." He let go of his step-sister and turned to his brother. "Otherwise _you get enough germs to catch pneumonia,_ and that means you don't get to kiss the hot girls. Is this clear?" Sure of himself he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Don't listen to him- girls like boys, who have brains and smell good." Casey shoved Derek away to get to the stairs. She had had a really hard day and the last thing she needed was him. "You ask her politely for a date and then give her your number."  
"_After you do, she'll never phone you_", Derek chuckled as he looked at her.

"Then she probably isn't interested in you." She turned her gaze to the older step. "And you go to the next one, thinking not every one can resist your…,"she mustered him from head to toe then spit the word out. "…charms."  
"Jealousy doesn't fit a keener like you, Case!" He called after her, only hearing her door shut.

"And first of all-don't fall in love. And if you do then swear yourself: _I'll never fall in love again,_ over and over, _I'll never fall in love again._" Derek didn't look at his brother, when he said that, he said it to the stairs Casey had just went up.

u-_-u

"I'm sorry, Emily. I didn't mean to snap at you like that." Casey hung on the phone.  
"It's okay, I guess my swooning for your brother-"

"STEP-brother"

"Got it. For your **step**-brother was too much for you. But would you do me a favour? About your life with Derek…"  
"…yeah?"  
"_Don't tell me what it's all about_, '_cause_ I won't listen to it, so you can save your breath for something more useful."  
"I'll try," Casey laughed.  
"Then good night, Casey!"  
With a "Good night, Emily" she hung up.

As if she'd waited outside, Marti stormed in.  
"Casey! Let's play princesses!" She jumped on her sister's bed and it looked as if she wouldn't stop bouncing any time soon. Unless…  
"What about hide and seek? You hide and I'll count to hundred and seek you."  
"Yey!" Marti jumped off the bed and ran out. Casey sighed. Life is so easy, when you're a kid. Now on the other hand she was allowed to be on her own and stay up as long as she wanted. Every age had it's own problems, and she wouldn't go back to being a kid for all the money she could be offered. _I've been there and I'm glad I'm out,_ _out of those chains, those chains that bind you _to someone who tells you what to do all the time, she thought to herself.  
"Casey! You know, we play hide-and-seek, don't you?" Marti poked her head in the room again.  
"Oh, I'm sorry Marti, I forgot-"

"_That is why I'm here to remind you!"_ And she dashed off again. Casey closed her book. The Venturi-genes weren't so different when they were in a girl. In some way they always got you to do what they wanted, if you don't want to pick a fight with them. Which was sometimes very funny. Not with Marti, but with her brother…shaking her head, she got up and searched for the one of the two who are allowed to call her sister without sharing blood.

u-_-u

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	2. What is a lie?

"Didn't I tell you to not fall in love, Edwin?!"  
"I know…" the younger murmured with his head laying on his on the table crossed arms. Derek paced in front of him, obviously not happy about his broken-hearted brother.  
"Let me ask you another question: _What do you get when you give your heart _to someone who isn't worth it? No, don't try to answer, I'll tell you: _You get it all broken up and battered. That's what you get, a heart that's shattered._ And what to do now? No, _I_ still give the answers. Repeat after me:_ I'll never fall in love again."_

He motioned for Edwin to obey.  
With a sigh he did: "_I'll never fall in love again."_

"Fine. Now will have to get you _out of those chains, those chains that bind you. That is why I'm here to remind you:_ Keep your heart out of this. No emotions, no feelings, no pink-fluffy-glitter world. Got it?"

"Yeah." Edwin barely listened any more. Every day the same. It was like school, but with Derek as a teacher way worse.  
"So let's get to today's question: _What do you get when you fall in love?_"  
"_You only get lies and pain and sorrow,_" a female voice said behind them. Casey couldn't stand Derek torturing his little brother like this, when Edwin was already down. She wanted to say something supportive, but somehow her own mood crept into her words and ruined her plan of supporting the little brother.  
"This is a lesson for **Venturis**," Derek spoke slowly as if she wasn't able to follow his words. "So would you mind…" he made a shooing motion with his hands for her to go up the stairs she was still standing on.  
"This is my house as well, and not your room, so don't you dare to tell me what to do down here."  
"Okay, listen…" he leaned on a chair in front of him and collected the last pieces of patience he had left. "This is really important to Edwin, _so for at least until tomorrow _could you just leave us alone? Than you can be as nosey as you want. Just- not today." He looked her in the eyes. She was the last person, who should get on his nerves. No after what he had in mind by just looking at her. He shook his head. **He** made that mistake and his brother should never suffer like he did. It was cruel, it was weakening and it was altogether only a matter of time before you become a…no, don't think that far.  
"Got it?" he asked Edwin.  
He just nodded and went to his room.

Derek stood there, just staring down on the table.  
Not his little brother. He knew, he treated him way worse than others, but one day, when Edwin will get into high-school, he would know how to stand his ground against bullies and people dumber, but stronger than himself.  
He sighed and let his hand run through his hair.  
"You shouldn't kick him, when he's already on the ground. Why can't you be supportive? He is your brother for goodness sake!"  
Please not again her.  
"Casey, please, go 'way. I really don't need you around now."

"Oh, I think, you do! Why'd you talk to him like this? Don't you see that he admires you?"  
"Casey MacDonald, this is the last warning-" he gritted his teeth, "Go. Out." His voice was dangerously low. He didn't look at her, he looked at his white knuckles on the chair.  
She took a step towards him. Her voice was suddenly smooth as she spoke: "I know, you have another side. A side that wants to protect your family. And I know it so well, because I have it myself." She took a step closer and laid a hand on his shoulder "But why can't you help him, tell him that this world looks bad today and one day he'll be happy? That this girl isn't the last, he'll ever love?"  
"I can't lie to him, " he said very quiet.

"What?"  
"How can I tell him that, if I'm not fully convinced of my own words!" he shouted and turned to her, grabbing her hand from his shoulder.  
"How can I tell him, he should forget this girl and wait for the next one, if I can't do it myself? I wanted to spare him this hurt I feel myself. Yeah, Casey, big surprise!" he laughed sarcastically. "I feel hurt."  
Casey caught on his aggressive mood. "I do as well- let go of my hand!" She tried to free her.  
"Oh no," he laughed again. "You don't feel the hurt **I** do. Otherwise you wouldn't be able to look me in the eyes and be that close. Let me tell you one thing Casey- this is going to hurt me more than you."


	3. What is beneath?

"**Let me tell you one thing Casey- this is going to hurt me more than you."**

With that he pressed his lips on hers. He felt her astonishment, but squeezed his eyes shut. At this moment he knew he couldn't bear to see the shock and disgust that must be in her sapphire orbs.  
After some moments the incredible happened: he felt her kissing back. And her passion wasn't something he was prepared for.  
Heavily panting they broke apart.

Casey only looked him in the eye. "Since when?"  
"That day you went down the stairs at school. Before I even realized who you were by then, I fell…and made you fall as well." he chuckled. All the tension he had felt seconds before was gone, vanished by the kiss.  
"Took me some time longer…" She laid her arms around his neck.  
"How much?"  
"Mmm, the evening you asked me for help with our school- project."  
"I could barely keep my hands by myself that evening, told myself it was just the new situation of learning clouding my mind with some silly things, but then…" he shrugged. "You caught me, I guess."  
She smiled at him. "You know what? You were right with what you said to Ed. May I quote?" She tilted her head.  
"Go on." he let his hands wander around her waist to her back. He'd missed her warmth before he even knew it.  
"_I'll never fall in love again."_ she whispered and leaned in to kiss him.

"_I'll never fall in love again, _huh?_"_ Edwin was sitting on the stairs.

Derek smirked at him. "I was being honest: _I'll never fall in love again. _With no other girl."

Casey looked at Edwin. Suddenly she knew what he wanted. Yes, he was just a copy of his brother. "Maybe you should go and talk to Lizzy. Unless, you want to watch us…" She kissed Derek just to get rid of Edwin. Derek's mean side already rubbed off on her.  
"Do whatever you guys want. But don't do it in front of me, 'kay?"  
Not sure, if they heard him, he went upstairs and knocked on Lizzy's door. When she opened he took a deep breath: "_I'll never fall in love again."_

x-_-x  
(Epilogue)

"So, you want to tell us, that we're not the only Venturi-MacDonald couple in this house?" Nora looked at her elder daughter.

"To be honest, no."

"Lizzy, let me answer." Casey hissed at her sister.

"So you and Edwin too?" George didn't know where to look.

"I guess you should've brought a MacDonald for Marti."  
"Der-ek!"  
"What? Now we only have the Venturi-**men** convincing the MacDonald-women that we are the best." He leaned back and smirked. Casey face-palmed. Why did she fall for Derek again?  
"I think, it's cute." Marti said into the silence. "And I was the first to know!"  
"But now…" Edwin pointed a finger at her. "…we all will test your boyfriend even harder, because after all- he can't be family before he marries you."

"That's a good point, Edwin," Nora said. "So you Venturi-men", she made quotation marks with her fingers "hopefully make it better than we did. After all-you have it very easy: you can bring your women home and don't have to make your way home alone. You can bring her over every time for dinner and sleep-over and you won't make her unhappy without turning your whole family against you."  
"Hey, what about "Venturi's keep their backs?" ", Edwin asked.

"That won't work, son, these ladies are way too good to be unhappy. So take care of Lizzy, if she's unhappy, we're unhappy."  
"And you get kicked out of that house."  
"Marti!" A six-voice canon exclaimed.  
"What?! I'm right. I'm the only one without pink glasses."

"Not for long." Casey smirked at her little sister and took out some pink heart-shaped sunglasses.  
In attempt to set them on her little sister's nose, she chased after her, while the rest of the family laughed. This was the chaos they lived in.

x-_-x

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So **_this _story ends here.** I would like to thank all of you who reviewed, pm-ed, faved and alerted (to) this story, and hope you support my other stories as well.  
**If you like my style of writing and hope to read more Dasey from me, leave a rev or pm!**


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